Hi, I was here last year but had to re-register because I have a new email.

I've had episodes of extreme dizziness/feeling like I will pass out/shakiness for over 2 years now. first happened on my drive to work (i had an hour commute). pulled over at a gas station and put my head between my knees, eventually was able to get out of the car and buy an orange juice. i first attributed these episodes to low blood sugar, because i was never a breakfast eater. now i work from home. thank goodness. and I eat every 2-3 hours.

I've had a brain mri, extensive blood work, hormone testing, had my inner ear checked, holter monitor. everything was normal except i did pass out during a tilt table test. was told to increase my water and salt intake, and not let myself get too warm. sometimes my blood pressure does go kind of low (90/60, 85/55 at its lowest) but many times when i feel dizzy and like i might pass out my blood pressure is fine (110/75). can you tell i own a bp monitor and check often? :)

i have been working with a therapist for about 8 months now to help me through this and help with anxiety. I have had fewer episodes than last year, but I still pretty much do not drive or go anywhere by myself.

today I had a major episode while getting a massage (!) how can anything be less anxiety provoking than that? I've been getting regular massage for years and it's helped me both mentally and physically (back broken in car accident years ago). laying on the table, sudden severe dizziness, felt like I would pass out, had to ask my husband to come take me home.

I also just started taking progesterone, because these episodes get much worse around the time of my period, and i've looked into the connection between low progesterone and panic attacks , possibly perimenopause.I'm 37 and there is a lot online about dizziness and panic as perimenopause symptoms (something dr.'s dont usually tell you about). the progesterone had made me feel more calm, but i still had this horrible episode.

I am a little nervous because my husband will be away for a business trip tomorrow thru sunday. i used to be so independent, a do-it-all-on-my-own, travel across country by myself kind of person. now i feel like such a mess. and feeling so discouraged. this is 2 going on 3 years living like this. not always this down but this episode at the massage therapist really got to me. feel like i will never be normal again.

right now my theory is that I have a combination of some kind of medical issue (vaso vagal, maybe perimenopause?) combined with anxiety.

thanks for listening. just wanted to re-introduce myself, and be able to share with other people who might be able to relate. my husband is sometimes supportive, sometimes impatient with this, but just doesn't understand. and i dont blame him really, if you haven't lived through it , it would be hard to .

i'm glad this forum is here and that people share their experiences because even when i'm not posting, it helps to read what people write and know you're not alone in this.

Hi Little wing 75. When you mean shakyness is it like shakyness in your whole body like trembling. Because I shake and tremble all the time inside my whole body. I all ways feel tired and sick. My legs to my thighs burn. Sometimes my hands hurt and tingle. I get the shakeyness and trembling in my body in the morning when I wake up real bad. I have to take a ativan to calm me down. I am all so on prozac 40 mgs. I had anxiety 7 or 8 years ago and now it back but worse. Misty.

First let me say you are not alone. I'm not a doctor, so none of this is medical advice, but I'm sharing what I can relate to from my own life, okay?

Hormones are very powerful, and when they fluctuate, our minds and bodies can feel almost like foreign objects to us.

You said you had "hormone testing" done in your lab work? And what was the result? What was the dx given to you as to why they rx'd progesterone?

It sounds like you're being pretty thorough with getting your health checked out, and the more you can rule things out, the more you can narrow other things down. So that's a good thing.

I can only speak for myself, but when my Husband has to travel, I find my anxiety goes way up, even when there's not a thing to feel anxious about. I can't sleep without him in the bed (the dog comes in handy, but it's just not the same). Even though we stay in communication, there's this underlying anxiety just from knowing he's not home.

Perhaps that's causing a trigger of events for you right now?

For the record, I've had panic attacks at massage before. But for me, I have personal "issues" where I don't like to be touched. So straight out of the gate, that makes this quite an endeavor for me. But I wanted to mention it to you because it's happened to me, and I understand the experience, if the circumstances are different.

M....

"My time for tears will be at my Victory...not at the start of the War." ~~Vickie

hi littlewing, nice to meet you! i m fairly new here, but reading through your post, we sseem to have a few things in common. i ve had all the medical tests under the sun done, hoping to find something wrong, so that i can just "fix" it nothing comes up and anxiety is definitely the problem i have. i had it about 20 years ago, it stopped when a dr prescribed a mood stabilizer, carbamazepine, which i have been on ever since, but in the last 6 mths its come back with a vengeance. i understand how you felt about the massage, cos i hate to be touched by people i don t really know, and have even refused offers of a neck rub by a well meaning girl friend! i have low blood pressure, and have started seeing a therapist just a few weeks ago..i also get really nervous and upset when my husband is gone, even for the day, which makes it very hard for him, of course, and i worry about him having to be my carer. i am menopausal and often wonder whether my new found anxiety could be hormone related., but my therapist thinks i could have ptsd after the fire that destroyed our house 5 years ago. co incedentally, i never had a period since then and that s when my hot flashes began. sorry, i didn t mean to make this all about me, just wanted to remind you that there are plenty of us out there ho empathisewithyou. i will pray for you while your husband is away, and i m sure your dog will get lots of cuddles! i have a german shepherd and 2 cats, blessingshad bad anxiety when i was 30, and its come back 23 years later.Be strong and let your heart take courage Psalm 31:24

I am sorry to hear of your recent scare. I have had similar issues, so know that you are not alone.

about a six weeks ago, my husband had to travel out of the country for business. He has been on many business trips within the states, but never abroad, so I was a little on edge...but nothing unusal, so I thought.

Well the third night that he was gone was a Friday, so my daughter and I went out to eat at her favorite restaurant. It is always noisy and crowded, but that is not a problem. However, they kept getting our order wrong, and pretty soon, we had two waitresses and a manager all standing around our table...causing too much attention for me all of a sudden. I got hit with a severe attack of vertigo, like I had never experienced before. It shook me up to say the least. It was not like anything that I had experienced before. I felt like I could not distinguish up or down, and that the world was spinning around and around me. I did not however allow panic to over take me, and used my breathing techniques to calm myself down, and recovered fairly quickly.

Long story short, I got through the episode, and have since made two successful trips solo, that I was concerned about since having that disorienting and scary experience. I made a road trip of several hours on my own, as well as flying alone to see a friend (our own Kitt) in another state, all without any anxiety or incident.

I chalk it up to anxiety, perimenopause that you mentioned and migraine headaches that can bring about such symptoms.

I bring it up to let you know that though we go through episodes that alarm us, and are frightening...we are stronger than the things that challenge us.

You can put this latest dizzy spell behind you, and know that you are better equipped to handle anything that comes your way in the future.

I am sure that you will do fine as your husband is away, and you have us here to support and cheer you on.

Post everyday if you need to. We will be here.:)

I hope that you are feeling better now, and that tomorrow is a day full of calm and hope and faith that things can get better.

Talk to you soon,

Scaredy CatModerator:Anxiety/Panic

"Courage is not the abscence of fear, it is feeling afraid and doing it anyway!"

"Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles...it empties today of its strength." Corrie Ten Boom

thank you everyone for your replies, it really helps to feel i am not alone or the only one going through this kind of thing. my husband just left for the airport.

Scaredy Cat - i had a bad episode of vertigo like that in an AppleBee's once and ended up leaving. i am encouraged that you were able to get through it and go on. I am also so glad to know I am not the only one that gets nervous when my husband has to travel, sometimes it makes me feel like, what is wrong with me?

misty - i am so sorry you have that shaking, and you are going thru this, it's a terrible feeling. i seem to get shakey on and off, out of the blue. i can be driving, or just walking around the house, and all of a sudden my legs shake bad, and/or my hands, sometimes it feels like my whole body. its happened to me several times while at the checkout at the store, and i think people must think i am crazy. sometimes it happens to me when i am in the shower, and then i have to get out because i am afraid it i will fall. i get that tingling too. does the ativan help? thanks for letting me know i am not the only one who gets this!

mindymaggie - thank you for your prayers, that helps. I'm so sorry to hear about your house fire. i would think that could cause anxiety, but i think being menopausal could too. it could be a combination? if you google low progesterone/anxiety, some good articles come up. my mother tells me she got real anxious for a few years before/after menopause, and that the progesterone cream helped. glad you have your pets, too they do help! - i have a cocker spaniel and a maltipoo. and you have low blood pressure too? I find that sometimes these episodes happen when my blood pressure is low - but sometimes they happen when it is not low, too.

merrida - i think my husband going away is making me very anxious. i had my estrogen and progesterone tested about a year and a half ago and they said it was normal. But, my period is much lighter/short than it used to be, and comes every 21 days instead of 28/30 like it used to, so it seems some type of hormonal change is going on. I started a progesterone cream that is available in health food stores, so its not a prescription one. my mother uses the same and said it helped her during menopause.